Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-07-14
TINY PIGTAILS' PASTINIES.
How Cute Chinese Children Amuse Them
selves.

| How Cute Chinese Children Amuse Them
selves.
A peep into the play corner of 6
Celestial juvenile makes plain the fact
that few playthings suffice for the
pleasures of the youth of the Flowery
Kingdom. Dolls there are, to be sure
but the girls make little use of them,
| and they are often petted and patted
by the boys. There does not seem tc
be as much make-believe among the
childish players of Chinatown as there
| is among white children. Although a
joss appeals to their Imagination, a
doll is only doll. This may be ac-
counted for by the fact that about the
time when they would naturally begin
TO take the most interest in wax feat
ures and sawdust bodies their atten-
ton is called to dolls of flesh and
blood. Hardly has the female Mon
golian fairly begun to steady herself in
her clumsy shoes than she is made a
saddle-hOrse for the month-old tots OF
her own OF some other family.
Sometimes the motherly looking lit
tie maid who bends her back to the
daily task of giving the baby a daily
airing, has such a tired expression OF
countenance that it would appear to
be only fair, especially in view of the
disproportion of burden to bearer,
that places be changed for time
But besides the human plaything s,
there are odd puzzles to be put to-
gether OF strung into certain shapes,
gorgeous glass marbles to roll about,
balls with strings attached, that may
not be lost, and colored blocks with
which to build wonderful houses,
bridges, and towers; diminutive junks
to pull about on the floor, and toy
mirrors in which to scan small yellow
features and narrow black ewes. The
abacus, or mechanical counter, is
placed in the hands of the youth at a
very early age, and it is wonderful to
Americans how quickly mathematics
are mastered in this manner by little
fellows hardly knee-high.
Chinese boys from eight to twelve
years of age play an odd game with
sticks of wood about three feet long.
A stick is grasped near the middle and
thrown sideways, the object being to
cross it on another stick lying upon
the ground. The secret of the game
and the points to be made have never
been mastered by the American boys
who hang about the outskirts of China
town. The small Californian votes it
very dull play and cannot see what
there is in it to arouse the enthusiasm
of the youthful heather.
There is a Chinese game however,
tbot fa liz TO -
and envy of the white bows. 1t is
played with loaded cork bestuck
with feathers. The game is to keep
the cork in the air. The first player
throws up the shuttlecock, and before
it again reaches the earth he twists his
foot and gives the descending object
kick with his heel which sends it up
into the air, sometimes as high as
twenty feet. When it descends again
be tries to keep it within range of his
feet as long as possible, but the play
soon fails to be exclusive. Other boys
standing anXiously about manage to
get a kick at it, sending it away from
the first player, who then joins the
outsiders in general scramble to get
possession.
Sometimes in the play, when the
crowd is punched together, the shut
tlecock is struck by the hand, but this
is not allowable unless it is in danger
of reaching the ground before the
heel can strike it. Expert PLAYERS
keep their hands in their sleeves, hit
ting the feathery object only with their
heel, and thus keeping it from the
ground for hours at a time. Great
skill is necessary for this game, and
where American boys have undertaken
to play it with the heather they have
always cut a sorry figure.
When kite-fying is to be considered
the Chinese of any age are children.
Old men take as keen delight III sail
iag paper dragons and birds as boys of
ten. But this does not detract from
the pleasure of the boys, who unwind
the kite-string and watch their cher
ished toy float away with at interest
that flags not with each successful
aerial flight.
More Chinese kites ars flown by
American boys in San Francisco than
in any other city in the United States,
but one is not often afforded the spec
tacle Of Celestial youth flying n kite
even in this cosmopolitan place, as
they are usually sent up from roofs of
buildings, out of view from the street.
Top-spinning is favorite amuse-
ment, and in this the Chinese are ex-
perts The length of time in which
they can keep the humming object in
motion is quite remarkable. = San
Francisco GGU.